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SIERRA VISTA — As if they were playing a vast game of hide-and-seek, volunteers sought out birds across about 177 square miles on Saturday.
The Ramsey Canyon Christmas Bird Count was one of about 2,200 bird counts taking place across North America for the 108th National Audubon Society event that began as an alternative to bird hunting on Christmas.
Ted Mouras, one of the event organizers, and friends Doug Snow and Terri Metzger began their count just after 8 a.m. in Ash Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains.
The first marks on their checklist of local birds were for some Mexican Jays they saw before marching up one of the canyon slope. Another bird nearby remained unidentified after it flew away.
 Heather Swanson and Jack Whetstone count birds along the San Pedro River on Saturday as part of the Ramsey Canyon Christmas Bird Count. Volunteers from the Audubon Society took part in Saturday’s census. (Mark Levy-Herald/Review) |
“There will be more,” said Snow, who was joining the search in the canyon with Mouras for the sixth time. He marked the list as Mouras made more identifications.
“We’ve got two Chipping Sparrows and I heard a Northern Flicker,” Mouras said.
As a small bird flew, Metzger took out her binoculars to get a better look. The trip was her second year on the count.
“I’m an outdoor person,” she said.
While many birds identified on the hike are seen, others are only heard. As difficult as it can be identifying bird species by sight, knowing their songs and calls, a skill honed with experience, can be even more difficult, Mouras said
Mouras identified more birds by sound throughout the search — a Ruby Crowned Kinglet was calling out “three little short chips together,” a Hermit Thrush made a “low and flat solitary chip note,” and a Spotted Towhee called out, too.
“It sounds like a cat. It has kind of a meow call,” Mouras said.
Mouras hoped to find a Black-chinned Sparrow. They see one about every third year during the count and the south facing slope with cactuses, ocotillos and mountain mahogany is prime habitat for them.
“They’re pretty rare in the U.S.,” he said.
As they hiked further they made many stops to look and listen for signs of birds.
Mouras and Snow saw a few different birds in the vicinity. It isn’t uncommon to find mixed flocks in early winter, as the birds band together for strength in numbers, though they typically join birds they won’t be competing with for food, Mouras said. Some eat insects off leaves, some feed off insects on tree bark, and others look for berries.
Some of the birds in the area move down the canyon for the season rather than migrate south for the winter, Mouras said.
After more birds were added to the list, the group went back down the mountain to Lutz Canyon Trail, passing by old home foundations and pipes from when mining took place in the area, evidence of a 1983 fire that scorched the area and items left by illegal immigrants crossing the mountains.
The trail led into a forest of madrones, Madrean oak, manzanitas and pines along a flowing creek, where more species were added to their list: American robins, red-tailed hawks, Ladder-backed woodpeckers.
Mouras whistled to imitate the call of a screeching owl from time to time.
The owl call usually gets birds in the area to “hunker down” or fly up to investigate, Snow said.
Snow spotted four cedar waxwings in the canopy of the trees. He first thought the bright red wax-like tips of the wings were berries.
“They’re gorgeous birds,” Mouras said. “It’s got feathers that look almost like they’re painted on.”
While coming back down the trail, Metzger spied a roadrunner crossing the mountain trail. It was an unexpected location for the bird, Snow said.
Mouras then tasked the group to search for spotted owls at a roosting site along the trail, but none were seen.
The number and species of birds they find in the canyon change every year.
Last year they counted about 40 Chipping Sparrows in the canyon but saw three Saturday.
Ravens and blue birds also seemed to missing from the area, Snow said.
After ending their count on Lutz Canyon Trail at noon, they yielded “not a lot in terms of numbers but a lot of interesting species,” Mouras said.
Bird species leading the count on their hike Saturday morning included the Bushtit, with 20 counted, with the Spotted Towhee, 17, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet, 15, the Bridled Titmouse, 14, the Bewick’s Wren, 13, and the White-breasted Nuthatch, 10.
This week Mouras will compile the results of the count, one of about three dozen of the counts in the state taken over 24-hour period between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5.
The Ramsey Canyon count usually leads the state for the number of species found, averaging 150, he said.
The counts allows the Audubon Society to create a census of early winter bird populations across the Western Hemisphere.
A total of 75 volunteers participated in the Ramsey Canyon count within a circular area 15 miles in diameter at locations including the canyons of the Huachuca Mountains, the San Pedro River, rural roads and even in parking lots in Sierra Vista, Mouras said. Other volunteers monitored bird feeders for the day.
The count continues to draw in volunteers who share an interest in the environment and community service.
“It’s a fun group,” he said.
REPORTER Laura Ory can be reached at 515-4683 or by e-mail at laura.ory@svherald.com.
